Orbital devices find way into rickshaws

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After agreements with every car maker from Ford to Chrysler over its famous two-stroke engine, Orbital Engine Corp is branching into that other great vehicular market - rickshaws.

Automated rickshaws, of course.

"One of the issues we faced is that people think that the only transport on the planet are cars," Orbital's chief executive, Peter Cook, mused yesterday.

Still, for Orbital - the perennial bridesmaid which has long frustrated investors - the humble tuktuk could prove a handy addition for the company, which ekes a living from licensing its fuel injection technology.

The fees come from the more conventional markets for two-stroke engines - boats and motorcycles. Orbital's main contributor is outboard-motor maker Mercury, but others include another outboard company, Tohatsu, power-ski maker Bombardier and scooter makers Piaggio, Peugeot and Aprilia.

Now it can add a deal with Indian autorickshaw maker Bajaj Auto. The fees would be "significant", Mr Cook said.

Orbital shares surged 10 per cent to 15.5c on the news.

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But it's hardly the $24 the shares struck in the late 1980s on promises of great technology breakthroughs from Ralph Sarich, who had convinced the then great Broken Hill Proprietary Co to back his engine.

BHP sold out in 1999 amid its own difficulties, raising just $28 million for its remaining 10 per cent stake. These days, that's more than one-third of Orbital's market worth of about $63 million.

Meanwhile, the inventor of the "orbital" technology - Ralph Sarich - has long since cleared off with $200-odd million from slowly tipping out his shares and has multiplied his wealth from investments in Perth property.

Sarich's original invention of a rotary engine never gained momentum because of its high fuel consumption and emissions.

"[Orbital] grew out of that," Mr Cook said. "But it's a very different business now."

In hindsight, the company never justified a billion-dollar market value. Orbital turned a $2.1 million profit in the December half, from a loss of $2.9 million a year earlier, but its losses have far outweighed profits.